• On TV.com: THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR photos

April 17, 2006 4:27 PM PDT

Windows patch trips up on HP tool, firewall

  • Font size
  • Print
A "critical" Windows patch can cause trouble on computers that run certain Hewlett-Packard photo-sharing software or the Kerio firewall, Microsoft said.

The MS06-015 patch, designed to plug a flaw in Windows Explorer, can cause a myriad problems for users of HP printers, scanners and digital cameras, Microsoft said in an article on its support Web site dated Saturday. People with Sunbelt Software's Kerio Personal Firewall also will notice that Windows no longer works as it should after applying the fix, Microsoft said.

The troubles include being unable to access or save files in special folders like "My Documents" and "My Pictures," and unresponsive Office applications, Microsoft said. Other issues include applications that crash after trying to open a file, no response after typing an address into Internet Explorer's address bar, and no effect after right-clicking on a file and selecting "Send To," Microsoft said.

While designed to fix a security issue in Windows Explorer, the patch can actually also impair that specific Windows feature. Clicking on the "plus" sign beside a folder in the file browser may have no effect, Microsoft said. That action should expand the directory tree.

The problems occur because HP's "share-to-Web" software and the Kerio firewall interfere with a new file, verclsid.exe, delivered by the security update, Microsoft said. The HP software in question ships with cameras, printers, scanners and some DVD drives, Microsoft said.

Microsoft recommends that affected users of the HP products manually change their Windows Registry, a core part of the operating system that stores PC settings. Kerio users should configure the firewall to allow the new Microsoft file to execute without warning, it said.

The Windows Explorer update isn't the only patch in Microsoft's latest round to cause trouble for some users.

The Windows Explorer fix was one of five updates Microsoft pushed out last week as part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday." Some people had already reported trouble with the IE fix, which changes the way the browser handles ActiveX Web applications. Users of Siebel's business software, in particular, appear to have been hit hard.

See more CNET content tagged:
firewall, Microsoft Windows Explorer, HP, photo-sharing, patch

Add a Comment (Log in or register) 10 comments
Oh, Microsoft (l)users. How I adore thee.
by aabcdefghij987654321 April 18, 2006 3:58 AM PDT
My non-Microsoft platform just keeps working each day, how boring can life get.

(I'm agnostic to platform, I only require that it works)
Reply to this comment
the problem isn't the platform in this case
by Bob Brinkman April 18, 2006 4:54 AM PDT
It's a 3rd party app that doesn't work with the newest patch, it's the bane of having a platform people actually write software for. Sometimes you make a change and one of the 1000's of apps written for the platform stops working right.

If you are going to flame, try and at least have a clue about the article.
Oh, Microsoft (l)users. How I adore thee.
by aabcdefghij987654321 April 18, 2006 3:58 AM PDT
My non-Microsoft platform just keeps working each day, how boring can life get.

(I'm agnostic to platform, I only require that it works)
Reply to this comment
the problem isn't the platform in this case
by Bob Brinkman April 18, 2006 4:54 AM PDT
It's a 3rd party app that doesn't work with the newest patch, it's the bane of having a platform people actually write software for. Sometimes you make a change and one of the 1000's of apps written for the platform stops working right.

If you are going to flame, try and at least have a clue about the article.
HP is pretty cavalier about their software
by Razzl April 18, 2006 9:04 AM PDT
My experience as the owner of an hp all-in-one printer and an hp desktop pc is that HP seems to think it's such a bigshot in the market that it doesn't have to worry about how its software behaves on the desktop. The imaging software and its update software that came with the printer caused endless booting problems for my earlier xp desktop running xp home and my new desktop pc has a bunch of hp utilities that don't work properly because they were hard-wired to a trial version (!) of Roxio media software that wasn't loaded properly. HP needs to learn some humility about its place on the os and the desktop...
Reply to this comment
HP is pretty cavalier about their software
by Razzl April 18, 2006 9:04 AM PDT
My experience as the owner of an hp all-in-one printer and an hp desktop pc is that HP seems to think it's such a bigshot in the market that it doesn't have to worry about how its software behaves on the desktop. The imaging software and its update software that came with the printer caused endless booting problems for my earlier xp desktop running xp home and my new desktop pc has a bunch of hp utilities that don't work properly because they were hard-wired to a trial version (!) of Roxio media software that wasn't loaded properly. HP needs to learn some humility about its place on the os and the desktop...
Reply to this comment
I have this very same problem but use CANNON
by inachu April 21, 2006 5:09 AM PDT
Everything is fine until I right click save as and use the MY DOCUMENTS folder.

It hangs for 4 minutes then lets me save.
Reply to this comment
I have this very same problem but use CANNON
by inachu April 21, 2006 5:09 AM PDT
Everything is fine until I right click save as and use the MY DOCUMENTS folder.

It hangs for 4 minutes then lets me save.
Reply to this comment
Another HP victem
by GuardogG7 April 23, 2006 6:48 PM PDT
They suggest going into the registry and manually fixing the problem--did they happen to give any step by step info on how to do this without causing more problems?
Reply to this comment
Another HP victem
by GuardogG7 April 23, 2006 6:48 PM PDT
They suggest going into the registry and manually fixing the problem--did they happen to give any step by step info on how to do this without causing more problems?
Reply to this comment

Latest tech news headlines

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

More feeds available in our RSS feed index.

Markets

Market news, charts, SEC filings, and more

Related quotes

Microsoft (-2.15%) -0.41 18.70
Hewlett-Packard (-3.02%) -1.01 32.38
Dow Jones Industrials (-1.31%) -109.75 8,266.49
S&P 500 (-1.30%) -11.03 834.19
NASDAQ (-1.00%) -14.45 1,431.11
CNET TECH (-1.98%) -20.74 1,024.27
  Symbol Lookup
advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right